


Consequences and other SAO Tales.

by Shanejayell



Series: Sword Art Online: Divergence [3]
Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21654604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shanejayell/pseuds/Shanejayell
Summary: Short stories on SAO.
Series: Sword Art Online: Divergence [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2091018
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Sword Art Online: Consequences

Kazuto looked around, then headed towards the table where his contact waited.

"Hey, Kazuto!" the business suit clad man waved, "Over here!"

Kazuto winced, then walked on. Kikuoka was officially with the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Telecomunications Bureau, but Kazuto suspected there was more to him. He was been assigned to the Sword Art Online case, and had been called after Kirito had awakened. Most importantly he had helped track down Asuka for him, which earned him a few favours.

"You sounded kind of urgent when you called me," Kazuto noted after they exchanged greetings and ordered coffee.

Kikuoka nodded, then said, "We've got something unusual going on with some of the former Sword Art Online players."

"Oh?" Kazuto prompted him.

"They're committing suicide," Kikuoka said seriously.

"Eeeh?!" Kazuto exclaimed in surprise.

"There's been twelve so far, and originally the local authorities didn't connect the cases. I only found out when I recognized the name of someone I interviewed, who was one of the suicides," Kikuoka admitted.

"So why did you contact me?" Kazuto asked, then narrowed his eyes slightly. "You're looking for something else that may connect them. Because other SAO players haven't done this," he noted.

"Pretty much," Kikuoka conceded.

"Do you have photos?" Kazuto asked.

"Here," Kikuoka passed over a compact tablet computer.

One of the quirks of SAO had been that it's creator had, shortly after he trapped everyone in the game, caused everyone to resemble their real world appearances. Their in-game handles remained the same, but they looked like their real selves. So while a list of names wouldn't help you identify someone, pictures could work.

Kazuto flipped through the faces, but initially nothing leaped out at him. He went through again more slowly, frowning slightly at a sense of faint familiarity. He stopped at an image of an attractive young woman, though rather gaunt looking.

(While SAO players were medically cared for while trapped in the game, you innevitably lost weight and muscle tone. All the survivors had been left gaunt and weakened. It had been all Kazuto could do to walk after he woke up.)

"You recognized someone?" Kikuoka asked.

"Rosalita, of the orange guild Titan's Hand. They were Player Killers," Kazuto said bleakly.

"Player Killers?" Kikuoka yelped.

"Player Killers. People who either believed SAO was just a game and if you died you just woke up," Kazuto said, "or those who simply just didn't care if they might be killing people."

"So Rosalita...," Kikuoka said.

As far as I know she didn't kill anyone directly, but she scouted and so on," Kazuto said thoughtfully. He flipped through the images again searching his memory, "In fact, I think they all are Player Killers."

Kikuoka digested that. "So why did they commit suicide?" he asked quietly.

"Think about it," Kazuto said. "You're a Player Killer, but you honestly believed that all you were doing was knocking folks out of the game. You sincerely believed you weren't hurting anyone."

"Go on," Kikuoka murmured.

"So the game is defeated, and you wake up... and you find out you were wrong. It WAS deadly. And you are, at least, probably a murderer. Or even a multiple murderer, if you were in a guild like Titan's Hand or worse, Laughing Coffin. And no one seems to want to punish you," Kazuto added.

Kikuoka made a face. After a great deal of debate the decision had been made not to try to prosecute players for things that happened in SAO. When the game had been beaten, the internal logs of what happened had been lost. The only way to prosecute Player Killers would have been testimony of other players, which would be hard to use in court with literally no other evidence.

"So, consumed by guilt, you do something self destructive," Kazuto finished.

Kikuoka nodded, "So, what can we do?"

"I'm tempted to say 'let them do it' but..." Kazuto admitted, "they may really have believed they weren't hurting anyone." He sighed, "We SAO survivors are all under counseling. Send a alert out to everyone dealing with them, explaining the situation. Hopefully that might help."

"it's worth a try," Kikuoka nodded. "Thank you... I know you must have very complicated feelings on this."

"That's an understatement," Kazuto agreed.

End

Notes: Canonly, it's established that at least some PKers claim they don't believe folks are dying in the real world. How much they actually are telling the truth is hard to say of course. But my thought was: if they WERE telling the truth how would they react knowing they had actually killed people?


	2. Memory

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Sword Art Online, I'm only borrowing them for awhile. Don't sue me, I'm really really broke.

Sword Art Online: Memory

Kirito walked with his girlfriend, the young man in black smiling at Asuna. They had defeated SAO, won against Oberon and after other trials they were, finally, together. Everything was perfect.

"Kirito-kun, I'm so happy we're together again," Asuna smiled, holding his hand.

"Me, too, Asuna," he agreed, the two standing close together.

"Oh Kirito," Asuna leaned close, puckering her lips...

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

With a start, someone stepping on him jarred Kirito from his pleasant dream.

Wounded and dying Kirito lay on the floor of the First Floor boss chamber. He had gotten unlucky, missed a dodge and took a devastating hit. Worse he thought there was a poison effect added, and his life was nearly gone. Players rushed by him to fight, unaware of his dire straights. Worse, he'd been such a ass as a beta tester no one really WANTED to save him.

As he began to break up into pixels, Kirito closed his eyes, willing himself to dream again. At least in the dream, he was a winner...

End

Notes: Yeah, drabble based on the idea that ALL of SAO in in fact a dream Kirito has while dying. It would certainly explain how much of a Mary Sue he can be, and so on.


	3. Akihiko Kayaba was a dick: One

Sword Art Online: Akihiko Kayaba was a dick.

"Akihiko Kayaba was a dick." Sinon resolved at one point.

"That's a little harsh..." Kirito said mildly.

They were gathered at Asuna and Kirito's cabin in Aincrad, relaxing as a group after having helped clear another floor. Silica and Klein were hanging out too, while the rest of the raiding party had dispersed.

As Asuna brought in some snacks she noted, "Now, now Kirito. We all know you admire him, but he did some horrible things."

"Yeah," Klein agreed.

Silica looked curious, "In what way was he a dick?"

Sinon scowled. "He made it impossible to fight long distance! All the Sword Skills and such require you to be in killing distance from the monsters. Not to mention the monsters getting area attacks. AND he didn't include bows!"

Clearly the last bit was what really irritated the sniper. Still...

"She's got a point," Klein agreed...

To be continued...?

Note: Yeah, couldn't figure out a bit to work this in my OTHER SAO fic.


	4. Akihiko Kayaba was a dick: Two

Akihiko Kayaba was a Dick! Two

Silica looked over at Kirito thoughtfully. In the aftermath of the Gun Gale Online fight, he seemed kind of... at peace with what had happened. Which made her decide to ask him something.

"Kirito-san?" Silica ventured.

"Hmm?" Kirito looked at her curiously.

"There's been something I've been wondering about," Silica admitted. "When you helped me against those player killers, you were so high level they couldn't even hurt you."

"Right," Kirito nodded.

"But when Laughing Coffin became a problem, they were able to kill even front line players," Silica noted. "How? It's not like they could join in on boss battles to level up..."

"Because in Sword Art Online, player killing was one of the most efficient ways to level up," Kirito noted flatly.

"What." Sinon blinked, having also been listening in.

"Yeah," Kirito sighed. "You got twice the experience from player killing versus a similar level monster or NPC."

"And they designed it like that?" Silica demanded.

"Apparently, yes," Kirito sighed.

"Akihiko Kayaba really was a dick," Silica muttered.

To be continued...

Notes: Yeah, short bit.

When Kirito helped Silica against the player killers, the level gap between him as a front line player and them is SO huge they literally can't hurt him.

Yet when the front line players went to stop Laughing Coffin, they were equal levels and were a serious threat. But HOW would PKers be able to level? They can't join in on boss raids or dungeon clearance. They possibly could do some quests and farm monsters, but both activities would be risky if they were spotted and someone went after them.

My only thought is PKing is very rich in experience, once more indicating Kayaba is a dick...


	5. Ordinal Scale

Ordinal Scale and Aftermath

Kirito touched the Augma, the augmented reality headset that had come out not long ago, becoming a huge hit in Japan. He didn't use it much, mostly just to interact with Yui in the real world, as well as deal with some augmented reality features.

Surprisingly, AR was still quite popular, as was Ordinal Scale. One would have expected it all to be shut down after the mess at the last Yuna concert, but what actually happened was covered up. The company behind Augma claimed it was all a surprise event. And people being idiots, they bought it...

As AR took hold, there was a interesting split ongoing in the gaming community. Full Dive players regarded themselves as more 'hardcore' while they regarded the AR users as 'filthy casuals.' While the AR users looked at Full Dive players as dinosaurs embracing old technology. It was a bit like PC vs Console gamers.

Most former SAO players dropped it like a brick, of course. Even poor Eiji, whom had more reasons than most to hold onto it. As far as Kirito knew the man had dropped out of virtual gaming completely. And Yuna...

Well.

In theory Yuna 'died' again shortly after they defeated the final level of Aincrad to get the final sword Kirito needed.

Long story. Anyway...

Everyone saw Yuna vanish. Both her 'street clothes' version and the idol 'Yuuna.' So that should have been it. But people claimed to have seen her in AR... and apparently there were sightings in Aincrad, in the ALO full dive game.

So who knows? Maybe the attempt to make a Yuna AI had succeded. Somewhat.

"Daddy! The others are waiting in the dungeon!" Yui reminded him.

"Sorry, Yui. I got distracted," KIrito apologized. He too off the AR device, lay down on his bed and put the AmuSphere on. "Link Start!" he cried, and was back in the FullDive dungeon...

To be continued...

Notes: FINALLY got to see SAO Ordinal Scale. After some thought I decided to set this fanfiction after the movie, so just assume that in the 'real world' scenes earlier they were wearing the AR glasses.


End file.
